


Lunareclipse

by CurrySpider_215



Series: The Story of Emma Stark [2]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Gen, Tony Stark's Daughter, Young Hero, big hero family, igrnores canon at some point, learning what it means to be a hero, long fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-16 11:34:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28955778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CurrySpider_215/pseuds/CurrySpider_215
Summary: Emma Stark aka Blue Moon had two years to get used to ebing a hero for New York City.Noone knows about her parents but the Avengers and her two closest friends.  Even though the team of heroes is always there to help her she finds herself standing before a new challenge, struggeling to find a way out.orEmma Stark aka Blue Moon has to fight not only bad guys but her own mind
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker/Michelle Jones, Wanda Maximoff/Vision
Series: The Story of Emma Stark [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2111109
Kudos: 8





	1. can life be normal for once? please

It was her first day of junior year. Two years ago she stepped into a school for the first time in her life. Alot of people made fun of her for being homeschooled before but now she was glad to call most of her classmates her friends. Of course being friends with Peter, Ned and MJ had drawn a lot of attention to her but now everyone was used to it.

If someone had told her how much her life would change before christmas two years prior, she wouldn't have believed them. She would have called them crazy. How could she become a vigilante? Going to school had been a step closer to normal but patrolling New York and fighting crime seems like a jump back to crazy life.

She can't remember homecoming either. Did she even go?

Anyway, a lot of stuff happened. She got kidnapped, faught some muggers, some of her dad's friends found out about her, Peter and her saved them from a crazy gang after she escaped from his team. The team found out about her, she faught some more bad guys, told Ned about her family, got a new suit and a sword and faught a bunch of bad guys in the middle of a fire on the highway together with Natasha, Clint, Sam and Peter.

But right now that didn't matter. She was going to be late.

“Thanks, Haps!”

Sometimes she hated to have inhertited her dad's tendency to stay up too late and his messed up sleep schedule. Nearly running to her first class she quickly got her books out of her locker. Only a few students were out in the hallways as she kept running to her class. Thankfully she made it in time and someone had saved a seat for her.

“There you are, Ems. We thought you'd miss first day of school.”

Everyone was pulling out their computers or notebooks while talking to their neighbours.

“I didn't hear my alarm. Like literally. My dad woke me up like five minutes before my ride came.”

Like a lot of Midtown Tech's students Emma took her notes digital. Some had their laptops, others still used notebooks like they had in middle school but a lot were taking notes on their tablets just like Emma.

“New case for your StarkPad?”

Even though Emma had the best access she only got a new tablet when her old one was completely dead. But she liked to get a new case from time to time.

“You gonna come back to theatre club this year?”

“Don't think so. I got a lot to do...”

The bell rang and announced the start of a new year of school.

“Hello, everyone. It's great to have you all back here. Now before we check if no one is missing out the first day I'd like to introduce you to your new classmate.” A boy walked over to her after standing in the doorway. “Why don't you introduce yourself?”

He didn't look like he wanted to be here. “Hey. I'm Sam.” Before anyone could ask him any questions he walked towards the only seat left.

“Now let's continue with attendance...”

“You wanna come eat lunch with us later?” In the last two years Emma had found a good friend in Sophie. They often sat next to each other in their classes like they did now. Still Emma sat with Peter and Ned at lunch most of the time.

“Nah. Ned wanted to show me some of the new pics of Blue Moon he took during holiday...” They kept talking about the little events this summer that needed heroes to fight some bad guys. Most of the time it had ended up to be Peter and Emma fighting.

“Smith, Emma?” Her teacher was repeating herself dor the third time now.

“Oh. Here.”

At lunch Sophie and Emma split up after getting their food. Of course Sophie had met Peter and Ned but she didn't know about all the hero and secret stuff they were talking about.

“Hey guys.” She sat down next to Ned.

“Oh, Ems. Check out these pics.” He proudly showed her the photos he had taken this summer. Some of Spidey, some of Blue Moon and some of other heroes.

Emma felt bad about not telling him but she knew everyone in on her secret was in danger. It was dangerous enough that Ned knew Peter's secret identity.

“...and Peter took me to the compound a few times but you weren't there.”

During summer break Emma had patrolled more often and she had been out with friends too. Emma told him about how Clint fell out of the vents again one time she had been in her lab. She left out the part where she was working on her sword.

After lunch she had a few more classes. Gladly her teachers were being nice didn't asigne too much homework. Right before last period she texted Happy to let him know she would go on patrol after school and bring her bag home before starting. He seemed glad about it. The traffic in New York was a nightmare, especially in summer.

“Ems, wait!” Sophie ran a bit down the hallway to catch up with Emma. “Kate and the others wanted to go get icecream or something. You in?”

Emma didn't need to answer, one look was enough.

“Your internship. Yeah, I know. Don't you think they expect too much? I mean you're there like everyday.”

They stood in the middle of the hall. “Maybe. Anyway I gotta run.”

After getting out of the buidling Emma walked down a few streets. Slipping into an alleyway she looked around to make sure no one would see her as her suit formed around her body. Quickly she got onto the roof of the house next to her. She took off to the compound.

The air flow was very refreshing after a day of just sitting around in school. As she reached the Avengers facility she landed on the Starks' balcony. She threw her bag onto one of the chairs before flying back to New York.

Back in the city Emma started her patrol. Some people stopped her and asked for a selfie but else nothing big happened. She was about to fly back home when policecars came racing down the street. Without a second thought she followed them.

Soon the cars came to a stop in Queens. Peter's area. Yelling started to fill the street below her. Some officers were walking towards a grocery store. The one in the front suddenly stopped before turning around.

“They have hostages. Do not engage.” Why did everyone take hostages?

Emma was already walking towards the edge of the roof as Peter came along.

“What're you doing in Queens?” He hadn't noticed the cars on the street, yet.

“They got hostages. I was on patrol when the police got the call.”

He joined her at the edge of the building. “Why do they always take people hostage?”

The store was sourrounded by police but they couldn't tell how many criminals and hostages were inside.

“They don't have enough info to help.” Getting another step closer to the edge emma started to scan the buidling across the street. It took a moment but then she had a clear picture of what was going on inside. “The bad guys only have knifes. No guns. Four hostages.”

Before the two young heroes could decide on what to do one of the police officers had spotted them. “I think they're asking for our help. Let's go...”

Peter and Emma dropped down onto the street. The officer that had spotted them was already walking towards them. He seemed to be pretty new. But even the experienced officers had too little input to plan something.

“Great! You two are on patrol! Would you mind helping us out? We can't get enough info on this. They do have hostages but we don't know how many...”

This was clearly his first time working with the two vigilantes.

“They have four hostages. No guns. But they're hiding in the back.”

By now his colleauges had noticed the two. The one that seemed to be the head of this whole operation walked towards them. “Great to see you, Spidey, Moon.” He was thinking of a way they could save the hostages.

“You want us to take over?”

He sighed defeated. A lot of policemen didn't want the help of heroes if it wasn't absolutly necessary. This one didn't seem to be one of them. He gladly accepted their offer. “We're blind in there.”

To Emma's surprise the door wasn't locked. She walked in as if everything was normal. She held the door open a moment longer than she needed to just so Peter could crawl in and stick to the ceiling. She walked towards the back door calmly.

Everyone was in back and everyone included all of the three criminals. Just as Emma walked behind the counter the door opened and nearly hit her.

“No need to attack me with a door...”

The man in the doorway turned around. As he recognised the hero his eyes grew wide in shock.

“How about you put down that knife of yours?”

She took another step forward but he ddin't move.

“One more step and we kill those guys.” He gestured to the room he had come from.

Peter had already slipped past the man in the doorway and webbed up his partners but the guy was too shocked by the appearnce of a hero to notice it.

Boldly Emma took another step forward.

“Why don't you listen?! I said we'll kill them.”

Only one step seperated the two now.

“Oh, I did listen but you should've watched.” She pointed at the room behind him. In there Peter stood between his two webbed up friends. While he was distracted Emma snatched the knife out of his hand. “I'll take this.” Before the guy realised what happened he was wrapped up in spider webs and the police came rushing into the store.

“Thanks for the help, you guys!” Emma and Peter were already about to leave the scene while the police arrested the criminals and the hostages were asked some questions to determine what exactly had happened.

“No problem!” They took off.

They didn't gp too far, though. “Didn't know you would go on patrol today...”

They sat on the edge of a skyscraper watching over the city they had learned to protect in the last few years.

“So how was your first day as a senoir, old man?”

He pulled of his mask before shoting a web at Emma.

“Fine. And I'm not old. I'm literally one year above you.”

“Which makes you older than me.”

Instead of dodging the web Emma simply cut it. “We got a new guy in our class. Sam. He didn't look like he wanted to be there.”

“oh...Sam...”

Why did she even tell him that? “Stop wiggling your eye brows.”

“Is he cute?”

Rolling her eyes Emma took a deep breath. “I don't know. Besides I'm busy doing your job. Y'know protecting the city and stuff.”

Peter may be a complete nerd but he still had a lot more of the whole highschool experience than Emma. While he and MJ were dating for almost two years now, Emma had never even a crush or something.

“i gotta go. Got homework to do.” Emma let herself fall over the edge of the roof before shooting up into the sky. “See ya'!”

After two years the people had gotten used to seeing a girl flying across the sky from time to time. No one ever thought about following her or asking her who she was under the mask.

Back at the compound Emma landed on the balcony. She quickly grabbed her bag while her suit started to crawl back into the soles of her shoes. “I'm home!” She walked into the kitchen but no one seemed to be there. Her mum was probably in a meeting or something and her dad was either working in his lab or doing Avengers' stuff. On the way to her room she got a snack from the kitchen.

In her room she fell onto her chair. “First: homework.” She searched through her bag before setting down her tablet on her desk. It wasn't much but still she wasn't really motivated to do it. After an hour she was finally finished. The one hour had felt like five to her. She put her stuff back in her bag for the next day before grabbing her phone and leaving her room.

Since There were no secrets between the group of heroes and the Starks they had kinda fused the two floors into a big floor of chaos. The main kitchen was now the penthouse's one while they had extended the livving area on the Avengers floor. Nat and wanda were there now.

“Hey...” Emma sat down next to them on the big couch. Sometimes it felt like half of the whole space was one single couch. “How was your first day of school, Ems?” Nat offered her one of the cookies on her plate while they talked. “...after school I went on patrol and helped the police together with Pete. There were hostages at arobbery but the robbers only had knives, so no big deal.” Wanda was usually in New York in her apartment with Vision but they both visited the compound often. Sometimes together, sometimes alone.

They talked for hours. At some point Pepper joined them after ordering something for dinner. It was nothing unusual that the woen took over the living room. The others were probably training or playing some video game against each other.

“I think I'll better go catch some sleep. 'night.” Emma walked up to her room while the others stayed on the couch.

In her room she changed into her pjs before falling onto her bed. It was great to see her friends again. No one of them could have visited her during summer since no one knew about her parents. But having to get up early and having to get a somehow normal sleep schedule was rather annoying. She didn't want to fall asleep in class either so she had to get some sleep. Soon she fell asleep. Even before the sunset.

“Mornin' sleepy head!”

Why did he have to wake her up before her alarm?

“Don't you have better things to do than torture your daughter in the morning...” Rolling around in her bed she stared at her dad.

“Maybe. But this is definetly more fun.” For a second he just stood in the doorway, waiting for Emma to get out of her bed. But before doing so, Emma threw a pillow at him. It hit him right in his face. “Ready now?”

Emma grinned at him while getting out of bed. “Yes.” She walked right past him into her bathroom.

“Steve's making breakfast!” he left the door to her room open as he left to sit down in the kitchen.

“Is that my shirt?”

Emma snatched a pancake from the plate next to Steve.

“Maybe...” She sat down next to Tony at the counter.

“You have clothes of your own, you know. Maybe you could wear those...”

Emma was working on her pancake while Steve was making more for the others. “You can buy shirts in your size, you know. Besides it's not like you're never seeing it again...”

She was already finished with her breakfast as Steve wanted to say something.

“See ya'!” She was rushing to her room to get her bag before taking the stairs down to the garage.

“You shold be lucky she gives them back after washing. My MIT hoodie's still somewhere in her room...”

“I'm not late!” She was running towards Happy, who was already waiting for her. “but almost. Get in!” He started the car immediately and drove off.

Before lunch nothing big happened. But on her way to lunch someone grabbed Emma's arm and stopped her before she could leave the classroom.

“Wait.”

Emma tensed up immediately. It was one of the habits that had come with becoming a hero.

“You're friends with those senoirs, right? Peter, Ned and MJ?” It was Sam. The new guy.

“Why're you asking?” She pulled away her arm. He had a tight grip.

“So you're Emma?” She nodded her head yes. He didn't ask more questions.

“I gotta go.” Emma rushed out of the room into the crowded hallway. She told Peter about it at lunch but he had no idea what that could have been about either.

After school was out Happy picked up Emma and Peter like usually. They both started their homework on the way to the compound.

Emma was finished faster than expected so she stared out of the window for the rest of the ride. She was deep in her thoughts as she noticed that something was off. This was not the way to the compound anymore.

Peter hadn't noticed it yet. He was still working on his homework, mumbling to organise his thoughts.

“Ehm, Happy?”

He turned down the voulume of the music before answering. “What's up, Emma?”

Instead of answering Emma leaned back against her seat. “Nothing...”

He turned up the volume again. Whoever he was.

Peter seemed to get a bit uneasy too. Emma quickly grabbed her phone and texted Peter. As he saw that she was texting him he was confused. But after he read her message Peter's eyes grew wide.

'did u hear him? Haps never calls me emma!!!! smth's off...'

He looked up to her but she was just staring out of the window as if nothing was wrong. Peter followed her gaze. With his hightened senses he could see better than any normal human. Far away from them he saw the compound.

'where r we driving?'

'idk. But it's not the compound...'


	2. not the compound (where are they driving?)

With every passing second Emma and Peter tensed up even more. They had no clue where they were driving and who was driving. It was certainly not Happy.

The car slowed down next to a field. Something was going to happen and it was gonna happen as soon as the car stops. 

Peter wanted to ask Emma something but his phone couldn't send the message. Emma's phone didn't receive any messages. Not a single one. Their phones were useless now.

Luckly Peter wore his web shooters at all times and Emma had her sword in her backpack. 

Emma's thoughts were running in circles. If the man behind the wheel was not Happy, where was he? And why did this man look and sound exactly like the bodyguard? Why did he kidnap Peter and Emma? 

Was it even kidnapping if they had gotten into the car voluntarily? Nothing of this made sense. The car kept losing speed and there was not one building to be seen around here. Not a single soul was outside. They were completely alone with this stranger.

Her dad would soon know about this. He knew that Emma wouldn't go on patrol today. She had training with Sam. She never missed training. At least not without texting first or a very good reason like a fight against some bad guys on patrol. 

Peter was just as nervous as Emma. But he showed it. He was fiddling with his phone and tapping on the black screen. Silently he mumbled while thinking about the whole situation they were in. 

Before they could try to figure out what to do the car finally stopped. The fake Happy got out and walked a bit away from the car. Emma and Peter both tried to open the doors of the car but they were locked. Not creepy at all.

Fake Happy came back and started the engine again. He continued to drive straight over the field but suddenly Emma and Peter could feel a shift. The front of the car was slowly getting higher as if they were driving up a ramp or something. Also the ground seemed to get smoother than the dirt of the field. After the whole car stood on the invisible ramp it closed. Now the back got lifted up. 

The ramp closed and locked into place and suddenly everything around them changed. They found themselves in some kind of huge quinjet. 

Fake happy got out and this time he went to open the doors for the two teens. Too confused they both just grabbed their bags and followed the man wearing Happy's face.

He did not speak with them. After some long corridors and a lot of turns (were they in a labyrinthe or something?) the man led them into a room. 

The walls were plastered with screens. If there was no screen there was a window. Right in front of the big window right across the door stood a tall figure. 

Peter and Emma stood there frozen. In her thoughts Emma tried to think of a way they could get out of here. She had her sword and suit. Peter had his web shooters and spiderpowers. Also Emma had managed to sneak her sword into her pocket just to be able to use it faster. 

The man that had led them here stood in the doorway. As the figure gave a small sign with his hand the door behind the two teens was closed. They were alone. 

Peter got ready to use his web shooters while Emma's suit slowly covered her body. Her sword stuck to her waist. 

No one moved. Not Peter and Emma. Not the man in front of the window. 

“That won't be necessary.” He turned around seemingly unfazed by the young heroes. “I'm sorry we brought you here this way but I'm sure you wouldn't have come no matter how nice we would have asked you to.” 

Emma had heard that voice before but she couldn't remember where. 

“You don't seem to be very talkative. Romanoff told me otherwise.” 

Natasha. That's where Emma had heard his voice before. Natasha had sometimes been on the phone with him. But everytime Emma walked in on her speaking to him she would either tell Emma to leave or left the room herself.

“You're Nick Fury...”

It was a statement into the void but the man seemed happy to hear it. 

“Director of Shield. Yes.”

Peter started to understand too. He had spoken to him before but never seen him in person. The tension eased a bit but was still present in Peter. Nick Fury was a good guy but if he had ordered them here, something really important was up.

“You wanted to hunt me like an animal.”

Peter grinned. Emma was still a bit mad at Shield for calling her a criminal and literally telling everyone that she had been the bad guy. They never took that back. It was just forgotten. 

“That was two years ago. Besides I wanna see you when a new hero shows up out of nowhere with tech no one should have access to except for the Avengers.” 

While Peter was not thinking of him as a threat anymore, Emma was still ready to fight. She didn't trust people that easily. "Why are we here?" 

Fury led them to one of the many screens on the wall. "Shield needs your help. We have a very important mission and you two have the perfect skill set for this."

Fury explained the mission to the teens. While Peter would have helped no matter what Emma didn't see why they needed the two vigilantes.

" …you have any questions?" He looked at the two teens. Stark had told him it would be no problem to get the spider onboard. But the girl was more sceptical. 

"Why do you need us? Any agent could go, there's no need for a specific skill set." 

That girl really was smart. 

"You two are a perfect team. Besides a little detail changes the whole mission. The security there has old Hydra weapons. They don't know how to use them properly. And we're not the only ones trying to beat them."

Natasha and Steve walked into the room. Both in their suits. Nat immediately noticed that Emma had a bad feeling about the whole mission. Sure the Hydra weapons changed the threat but knowing there were other groups out there planning the same mission was completely new to the heroine. 

"Fine. When is this gonna start?" 

Fury looked at the four heroes in front of him. The best he had. Black Widow, skilled spy and assassin. Captain America, great leader and loyal soldier. Spider-Man, a hero looking out for everyone. Blue Moon, genius and skilled fighter, trained by the Avengers. This was a very important mission for Shield but strength was not the only thing needed this time. 

"You're off in 10'" 

Going on a mission for Shield was one thing but getting to know it ten minutes before it starts was another. "10?! I'm sorry but this is a bit too spontaneous…"

"It's now or never…" Natasha came to stand beside her. "We'll tell you more on our way…" 

The two Avengers walked the kids out of the room and back out onto the field. After the ramp closed behind them the helicarrier was invisible again. 

Natasha walked a few steps before stopping abruptly in the middle of the field. In front of them stood a quinjet. Its camouflage turned off as the ramp opened. For the two Avengers this was just another mission but Peter and Emma still had no clue what they would be facing and why. No one had told them anything yet. They only knew about the old Hydra weapons.

"You're gonna sneak in before Cap and I go in. Only fight if necessary." Natasha was flying the quinjet while Cap was showing them the blueprints and everything they had on this whole mission. 

"You said that we're not the only ones on this mission. What do we do if someone with the same knowledge set up a trap?"

Cap was impressed by her everytime they worked together on a mission. Peter and her really were a good team. They always considered every possibility. "That's why you're going through the vents while Peter sticks to the ceiling. This way you won't be seen on any video tape and cover both ways to make sure there's no trap."

"'Kay. Let's do this." Emma and Peter stood on the ramp of the quinjet. They were flying over the building. Getting ready to jump Peter and Emma both took a deep breath. 

They took a leap off the plane before landing on the roof. 

Emma stayed in the vents while Peter got out through the first opening they came across. slowly and silently they made their way through the building. 

Soon they reached their destination. by now Cap and Nat were in too. They hadn't come across one guard and the cameras hadn't caught them either. Still Emma had a bad feeling about this. all the information they had, had implied that whatever they had to get was heavily guarded and yet no guard had been seen in the whole building.

"No guards. They didn't even come after we ran through the hallways." 

The four heroes stood in front of a heavy steel door.

"Nothing in the vents either."

Natasha went to open the door but to her surprise it was already unlocked. "Either this place has the worst security ever or we're not the first ones." 

Steve stepped to the door too. It wasn't damaged. Whoever had left it open, unlocked it with the code. "You kids stay here."

"But-"

"Stay." The two Avengers slipped through the door, leaving the young vigilantes standing in the hallway. 

"And are we supposed to do? Wait here like some dogs or something?" Emma leaned against one of the white walls.

"I don't know. But don't you think it's strange that the door was unlocked."

Emma looked him dead in the eye (as best as you can, when someones wearing a mask). Slowly she slid down to the ground. 

"This whole mission is strange. I mean you guys ran through the hallways without giving a damn about the cameras but no one came." 

A black spot near the ceiling behind Peter caught her eye. her eyes fixed on the balck spot she got closer to the white wall. Using her boots she got higher. "Wasn't a camera supposed to be here?" Her AI confirmed her question. With her bare fingers she touched the black spot. 

Still staring at her fingers she got down. "Peter. someone blew up the cameras. We're not alone." As if on cue people started to fill the hallway from every direction. Back to back the two teens stood in the middle right in front of the door Natasha and Steve had gone through. "I think we have a problem." 

While Peter and Emma faught, Steve and Natasha already got what they were here for. They were already on their way back as a big explosion right in front of the door went off. 

Gladly the explosion had not only affected them but also some of the bad guys. Without taking a breath Emma and Peter continued to fight. It was a bit easier now with less opponents but the hole in the ceiling wasn't helping. 

Without a second thought Natasah and Steve started to run towards the door. Something blocked it though. They couldn't open it. 

The rubble of the ceiling was laying everywhere. But at least some had run away after they had recognised the two young heroes from New York. Only a little group was left. "We'll take the girl. Get the boy!" The little group split up, two targeted Peterand two more were attacking Emma. 

One of the guys had some sort of metal glove. He managed to break Emma's mask. Both stopped for a split second. 

But Emma grinned. "Nice try." Immediately her mask rebuilt itself from her suit before she used her sword to finally knock them out.

Peter webbed up his opponents as well. Finally Peter and Emma were able to see what the explosion had caused. 

Rubble from the ceiling blocked the door. Quickly Peter used his webs to remove it. Immediately the door flew wide open. Natasha and Steve were standing behind it. A bag in her had Natasha stared at the two teens. 

Emma was the first to move. "I'm usually not this kind of person but...I told you so. The cameras were blown up. This whole thing was a trap." She flew through the hole in the ceiling followed by Peter. Steve and Nat walked back the way they came in. 

Back at the quinjet Emma and Peter took off their masks. "This was a set up. They knew Shield would go after this. And the Hydra weapons were on purpose. They knew Shield would never send in any of their agents. They knew Fury would choose others to get that." She wildly gestured to the bag laying on the floor in the back of the jet.

They went back to the helicarrier and told Fury about the whole mission and the trap. "It didn't work. Besides they weren't expecting you today. If they had, the cameras would have been fakes and not blown up." 

He was right. The plan had been rushed. 

Emma kept thinking about it. She even lost some hours of sleep that night,trying to figure out why it didn't make sense. 

The next day in school she couldn't concentrate properly. She just couldn't wrap her head around it. If they knew that Shield would send heroes, why had they been surprised to see Peter and her?

After school she went to go on patrol. Peter had a date with MJ and Emma really needed to get her mind off that mission. It was over. 

It was a rather calm day in New York. Nothing much to do. Emma took a little trip to Central Park. It was a nice day. Kids were playing while their parents sat on benches. 

Some of Emma's classmates were studying together in the shadow of a big tree. Emma would have been there too but as beautiful as the day was there were still some idiots going around, stealing purses, bikes or whatever. 

Emma also took a quick trip to Queens. Usually this was Peter's area but he wasn't on patrol. The people there knew her by now. In her first months as a superhero she had trained a bit with Peter here. 

On her way through the streets the people greeted her or simply waved her. It was great to see a smile creeping onto someone's face just because they saw a hero. But New York was a big city. Emma continued her patrol through the city. 

After she left Queens though she had a strange feeling. Like someone was following her. She shrugged it off and finished her patrol in Midtown.

Usually she would just fly home. Even in the rain. But that weird feeling hadn't left her ever since she left Queens. Instead of shooting through the sky, she got down into an alleyway. After making sure that she was alone and not being watched, her suit shrank back into the soles of her shoes. 

Still careful and aware of her surroundings she left the alley and joined the moving crowd. She got out her phone and dialed a number, before making sure she was going in the right direction. 

"Happy? It's Emma. Can you pick me up?” 

In front of her a familiar tower rose into the blue sky. 

"I'm at the Tower. See ya'" The feeling of being followed was gone but still Emma wasn't much calmer than before. Standing in front of the stairs she patiently waited for Happy to come.

After a few minutes she sat down and started to scroll through the internet. Finally the familiar black Audi pulled up and Emma got in. 

"Thanks, Haps." He immediately started to drive again. "Did you get too injured to fly home again?”

Emma shook her head no. "Someone was following me around but I lost them for a sec and changed." 

"Do you know who followed you, Ems?"

"It was just a feeling. But better safe than sorry…" They started joking around like usual as they left the city and drove up to the compound.


	3. Calm before the storm ( some alone time yay)

"Did you see who followed you? Was it a bad guy?" 

Emma and Peter were on their way to lunch the next day. Emma had told him about the strange feeling of being followed that hadn't left her on patrol yesterday.

"I told you it was just a feeling…"

Ned and MJ had gone ahead to save their table. Some freshmen were trying to steal it. That new guy from Emma's class had been sitting everywhere in the cafeteria. Always watching the group of seniors (and one junior) from the distance. It would have been creepy no one had realised it.

The first week at school wasn't even over yet and Emma was already done. Sure better go to school than being homeschooled again but the combination of being a superhero and a highschool student was not good for her already messed up sleep schedule. 

At lunch Ned was talking about StarWars and other nerdy stuff while Peter was trying to convince Emma that she had nothing to worry about and that she shouldn't waste her energy thinking about yesterday. 

In class Emma tried her best to listen to Peter's advice but it was hard to concentrate. She kept wondering if there really had been someone following her and why she hadn't seen them.

After school Happy picked her up. Peter promised to cover her patrol for the day since Emma had done his yesterday. Like always Emma worked on her homework on the drive back to the compound while chatting with Happy. 

At home Emma went straight to her room. Her dad was working in his lab and her mum was in a meeting so Emma was alone anyway. Tossing her bag into the corner of the room she grabbed mere comfy clothes and rushed down to the gym. To her surprise a few heroes were already there sparring against each other. Silently she stood there watching. It was funny how easily you could sneak up on the Avengers. To be fair the fight seemed rather intense. But still, Emma waited for the two men to notice her.

Eventually, after Sam hit the ground, they did.

"Oh, didn't see ya there." 

Sam was already getting up again while Steve had to process the little scare for a moment.

"Wanna join our little training?"

"Sure." She walked over to the meats and began to warm up. "What? Not everyone can barge into a fight without a warm-up…"

The two men knew, talking or even reasoning wouldn't work. Sure it was great to see how the girl improved but it was still a bit weird to train with her. 

As Tony's daughter, training combat and sword fight weren't exactly things people expected from you. But nevertheless Emma loved it. Especially since training showed her that she didn't need the suit to fight. It was just something that improved her strength and helped her with her surroundings. Of course going on patrol without it was something she never thought about but out of costume she could still defend herself.

They sparred a bit but as soon as Emma was up against Sam the training turned into a try-not-to-laugh-challenge. Their laughs were filling the room when Pepper and Natasha came down to call them for dinner.

"We see you're training hard but dinner's here." 

Sam and Emma saw the chance and took it.

"Last one cleans the gym!" 

They raced up the stairs while the other three walked behind them. 

After dinner Emma took a quick shower before falling onto her bed. After spending some time scrolling through the Internet she finally fell asleep. 

* * *

The next day started as calmly as the last had ended. In the morning her alarm woke her up. She ate a little snack for breakfast before Happy drove her to school. 

In school the classes were just the usual terror. 

At lunch Peter told her about a nice lady that had bought him a churro after he helped with her groceries on his patrol yesterday. 

After lunch the only somewhat exciting thing that happened was that one of her classmates fell asleep in physics and after his friend had shaken him awake a post-it had stuck to his forehead.

Somewhere after that the course must've changed. 'Cause right now she was in Queens.

Peter was nowhere to be seen and there were still people trapped in the burning building. The fire fighters were doing their everything to getas many civilians out as possible.

No one knew how the fire had started but Emma had come immediately after she noticed the smoke in the blue sky. She had even arrived before the fire fighters but she had no trick up her sleeves that could take out a fire as big as this one.

Some (actually quite a lot) had managed to get out of the building but since Emma and the firefighters had arrived they did nothing but carry person after person out of the burning house. No one on the scene knew how the fire had started or how many people had been in the building when it had started. 

The already rescued were all with some helpers that made sure everyone was alright. A few were already taken to a hospital. People were rushing through the crowd searching for their friends or family. 

Aside from the rescuing the firefighters were busy trying to handle the flames. Emma helped as best as she could. She still had no clue how this had even started or why no one else was here. But she couldn't get distracted by that. She kept on going back into the burning building to get more people out.

Searching floor after floor She had to get out every few minutes. sure her mask filtered the air a bit but the cooker in her suit was damaged after she had to break down a heavy steel door to get in from the roof. If she stayed in the flames for too long her body would probably collapse due to the heat. 

"Hello?! Is anyone here?!" 

Walking through the smoke filled apartment Emma searched for any people still trapped by the flames and smoke. Even though no one answered she kept on searching the last apartment on the floor. The smoke made it difficult to see anything but the real time scans of her suit helped her.

In the bedroom of the apartment a woman was laying right in front of the still closed window. She must've collapsed while trying to get some fresh air. Emma quickly picked her up and blasted away the window. Careful to not move the unconscious woman around too much she flew down to an ambulance.

"She breathed in too much smoke. Probably slept when the fire started." 

The paramedics immediately rushed to put one of those oxygen masks on her face before checking for any other injuries. 

"Need something to drink?" One of the paramedics was offering her a bottle of water. It was not the first time. He did this every time Emma landed here and he was fast enough to reach her before she entered the burning building once more. And like the times before Emma just stared at him for a moment. 

Some of her hair stuck to her forehead and her throat was too dry to let any words slip out. Still, she refused. She had given up explaining after the sixth time. But the paramedic was not stopping to ask her every time he saw her face. An apologetic smile hidden behind her mask, Emma turned around to fly up and search the next floor.

The apartments were all empty. Some of the furniture had already caught fire.

After she got out of the last one on the floor she bumped right into another person. Ready to pick up and fly out whoever she had bumped into, Emma took a step backwards. She was met with one of the firefighters in full gear. Together they got out of the burning building.

Her and the firefighter being on the same floor meant only one thing: every floor had been searched for trapped or collapsed civilians.

When the fire fighters had arrived and Emma had come out at the building with two hids in her arms they didn't waste anytime planning anything. The only thing they agreed on was that the firefighters would start searching the building from the bottom while Emma started from the top. 

Outside of the building Emma joined the fire fighters. 

"We got the fire under control but it still climbs up this building."

Emma would have loved that bottle of water now but she couldn't take off her mask with so many people around. 

"The higher floors are starting to burn on the inside. The furniture is catching fire." 

Her voice was raspy but still unmistakably hers to the firefighters around her. Some of the more experienced firefighters frowned at that.

"We still don't know how this fire started but given how long it's been and how the fire has already climbed up the structure of the building probably gets weaker with every floor the fire reaches."

In the background you could her some of the walls inside giving in to the pressure and fire. 

While they were trying to get a plan together to keep the building from collapsing the media arrived and a lot of reporters started to broadcast for their channels. After one of them had noticed New York's hero Blue Moon standing with fire fighters, the police had a hard time holding them back. Some kept fighting while others turned to the still burning building instead. 

Out of the corner of her eyes Emma saw the press and the flashes of cameras. Luckily ehe was not facing them. It's not that she didn't like the press, it just annoyed her how they couldn't seem to wait. And the pictures all the time. Taking selfies with fans on the streets was great but those big cameras being shoved right into her face were just annoying.

Right now she was trying to find a way to keep the building from collapsing in the middle of Queens. 

"Do you have anything that might help?" 

Emma didn't need to think about this question for long. 

"The only thing I have is Spidey. But I have no clue where he is. I can't reach him." 

She had tried to call him, to text him and nothing seemed to get to him. She even tried to reach his suits Al but Karen didn't answer as well. 

"Maybe we could…" 

Emma stopped listening when she heard a scream louder than the crowd of injured and helpers. 

"Excuse me…" She turned away from the firefighters. 

She could only tell that someone was screaming. Fear and worry in that voice had made Emma notice it. When she was in the middle of the crowd of rescued people she finally could make out what the person screamed.

"There was someone! There's still someone! There!"

Emma followed the shouts blindly. Rushing through the crowd she finally found the man wildly gesturing to the burning building.

"There's still someone!" 

Emma's gaze followed his gestures to a window. Her eyes widened in shock. There on one of the floors already ablaze a silhouette stood in front of a window. Frantically they waved. 

Emma wasn't the only one to notice the trapped person. The crowd fell silent, staring at the window in the flames. 

"We can't go in! Everything could collapse at any moment!" 

The firefighters stared at the floor unable to move because they knew no one of them would be fast enough to save that person. 

Emma's body moved before she could think about it. Running through the crowd her mind went blank. The floor the person was trapped on was just two or three below the last one she had searched.

Tuning out the screams and shouts she flew up into the air as soon as she was out of the crowd. Just then the firefighters saw her. 

"No! She won't be fast enough. Her suit is already damaged!" 

They tried to call out to her but Emma didn't listen. She flew faster than before. Her hood was blown off her head by the sudden speed.

* * *

"Why's everyone shouting?!" 

A young firefighter turned around at the voice behind him.

"Spider-Man?!" 

Peter knew he was a bit late on the scene but this guy reacted like someone had told him the hero wouldn't come. 

"Yes. What's going on? Why's everyone screaming?" 

Peter sure saw the fire and smoke but he had no clue what had happened already there. He had no input on the whole situation. He only knew that everyone was evacuated. One of the policemen had told him that right after he had landed on his car. 

"The building can collapse any moment now! But someone saw a person trapped on one of the laver floors…"

Peter was already preparing to swing in there when he heard a wall collapse inside the building. His ears were already hurting from the noise on the street but at this sound he hesitated.

People started to cry and scream even more. 

"Blue Moon didn't listen. She's trying to rescue them. Her suit's already damag-" He was interrupted by the screams. The only one aside from Peter to notice the walls giving in was one of the elder firefighters.

"She won't make it."

It was barely a whisper. A thought mumbled under his breath. Unnoticed by everyone putting their faith in the young heroine. 

But Peter heard him. Loud and clear. He froze.

_ No. She would make it. She had fought in fire before. Getting someone out wouldn't be a challenge for her. She was trained by the damn Avengers. She could fight ten guys at once. A lousy burning house was nothing.  _

_ Wait. That guy. He said something about her suit. It was damaged. What if it was one of her thrusters? What if one of them would stop working mid air? What if her mask wouldn't filter anymore? What if her suit would deactivate itself? What if a wall would collapse onto her?  _

_ What if that man was right? What if she didn't make it out? _

* * *

Blending out everything around her she kept on flying. The window in front of her.

In order to not harm whoever was trapped there she used her sword to cut out the window. While the glass fell down she got into the burning building one last time. 

In the apartment Emma had trouble seeing even her own hand. The smoke caused her eyes to start burning too. She walked further into the room. 

After not finding anything she went into the hallway. Pausing for a moment in the doorway she was about to pull up her hood again. Before she could even lift her arm above her shoulder a well aimed punch hit her. 

Immediately she prepared to defend herself. A kick right to her hand sent her sword flying back into the kitchen. 

Without her systems she was blind in the fire and smoke. 

"Who are you?" 

She felt the force of a missed punch softly brush her head.

"Blue Moon?" 

Before Emma could answer another punch hit her jaw. This time whoever was fighting her had used some sort of glove. Her mask fell to the ground.

Before it could rebuild a hand grabbed her face harshly. She was pulled further into the hallway. In shock she had inhaled the smoke. Coughing she was being pulled around. The grip on her face was bruising. 

She was trying to fight off the hand dragging her, gripping onto the arm. She even tried her thrusters but they somehow had been deactivated, leaving her defenseless. The man holding her pulled her closer to his face. 

"Not the Spider...but one of his little friends will do the job…" 

Before Emma could think about his words a cloth was pressed over her nose and mouth. Her already blurry vision started to fade as she slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

The sound of Emma's sword pulled him back into reality. No matter what if, he would help her.

Quickly he got into the air. The cut-out window caught his eye immediately. As fast as he could he tried to get down to that floor. He couldn't use his webs. They would burn like paper and he didn't have time to change his settings. 

Crawling down the facade, he got to the window. In the hallway the ceiling came down but Peter didn't flinch. 

"Ems?!" 

Frantically he looked around the burning kitchen. Through the smoke and the flames he saw two familiar things laying on the floor.

His spidey-sense forced him to move. Instinct taking over he jumped out of the window. He landed on some glass sheds but he didn't care. The building was collapsing right behind him. With a big leap he was near the police barricade. Everyone watched as the building shrunk. 

The firefighters had finally managed to take out the flames. The police, civilians and Peter stood there frozen while the smoke slowly faded away. 

The firefighters immediately rushed to where they thought Blue Moon would be but nothing.

The press people got closer to the building and therefore closer to Peter.

"Hey, you alright there, Spidey?" 

A policeman softly put his hand on the shoulder of the teenager. The teen broke his freeze simply shooting a web into the sky. Without a word to the press, police or anyone he left the scene. 

His mind was blank. Except for one question: _ Where? _

He sat down on the roof of the compound letting his feet hang over the edge. His empty look aimed into the blue sky. 

Footsteps rushed up the stairs. 

"What happened?..." 

Peter didn't move. It was not like he didn't want to but his body wouldn't move. 

The man's gaze scanned the roof. He knew he wouldn't get an answer from the kid. His eyes stopped on a little pile about a step away from the boy, laying on the roof. Half covered by a red spider mask he saw a dirty and damaged mask next to a slightly blue glowing handle of an all  too familiar sword.

A few floors beneath them a room usually filled with laughter and voices was completely silent. Everyone stared at the TV in shock. The screen showed a frozen frame of the news. 'Young heroine Blue Moon buried underneath collapsed building in Queens' 

Tony got to his knees. Carefully he picked up the sword. "What happened… "


	4. every second counts

Tony, Pepper and Peter sat in the kitchen. No one really ate the food in front of them. 

Peter was still in his suit. After Tony had found him on the roof he had brought him inside. The blue sky had suddenly turned grey. Right after the door had closed behind them, the rain had started to fall. 

When Tony had entered the kitchen with Peter, the masks and the sword, Pepper had already been sitting at the table, staring at the food in front of her. No one had said a word. Tony and Pepper were rightout confused. Some channels said Emma had been buried under the debris, others said she was a victim of the flames. Others simply said she was nowhere to be found. While Tony and Pepper just wanted to know what had happened to their daughter, Peter was lost in his thoughts, trying to figure out what had happened. 

_ Her sword had left a cut in the wall. It must have been activated when it had been thrown into the kitchen.  _

_ The sound of it retracting into the handle must've been what had broken him out of his freeze back there. But why would it retract if Emma wasn't holding or controlling it?  _

_ And her mask must've rebuilt like on the Shield mission. But why didn't she come out?  _

_ Wouldn't his spidey-sense have warned him if Emma had been in the hallway before it collapsed or if she had struggled with the flames?  _

_ Didn't she once say that her sword deactivated itself if she was out of reach or something? _

The sound of a fork falling onto a plate broke their stupor. Peter got up without another word. 

Still in his suit he walked down to the Avengers floor. Ignoring the looks of the heroes he went to the stairs. 

He walked down to the labs. Emma had once told him about her notes. They could only be opened from her lab or her StarkPad. 

For the second time this day he hesitated. But his need to find evidence for his theory was bigger. Cautiously he opened the door to Emma's lab. It was just as messy as always. As he locked around he was glad to see her holo-desk still on. He rushed forward and started to search for the file. He could have just asked Friday but like the other heroes he didn't trust his voice. Instead he searched for notes as chaotic as her lab. 

Opening one file after the other Peter had lost track of time. He didn't care.

It was getting dark outside as he finally found a file titled 'Blue Moon Stuff'. He opened it. The desk was filled with sketches, notes and holograms of her suit and other things. He frantically looked through them. Scanning them for the sword. 

Document after document he pushed them around until he finally found what he had been looking for. By then it was dark outside.

The heroes were in their rooms, trying to sleep but the uncertainty of the whole situation made it impossible for them to feel asleep. They didn't know that a few floors down Peter was trying to get something. 

He leaned over Emma's notes, trying to find what he was looking for. He tuned out everything but the handwritten words in light blue right in front of him. Reading through the notes as fast as he could, he didn't notice the sun rise again. It didn't come to his mind that he had to go to school or at least tell May where he was. He kept on reading Emma's notes.

He finally found what he had been looking for. At the edge of the screen under 'safety stuff' Emma had written down: deactivation when suit out of reach or time x without contact. 

He searched the notes underneath for more details. Between sketches and random thoughts he found something more specific. The sword could recognise whoever touched the handle this also made sure that only authorised people could use the weapon. Also the sword connects to the suit once it's activated and can therefore tell how far away the suit is. 

_ Since the suit was active due to the mask, Emma must've gotten out of its reach before the building collapsed.  _

_ But where was she now? _

He rushed into the shared lab. Tony had given him his own desk some time ago. Usually he used it to try out new things with his web fluid. He had left it on last time. Chemical formulas filled the screen. He quickly pushed them aside and started to write down. 

He started with a flashcard about the sword. Then one about the suit. He spent a lot of time researching what had happened before he had arrived at the burning building and filled another flash card with it. 

In the middle of the screen stood the only word Peter could think about at the moment : 

Where?

Next to the picture of the mask he wrote a few notes about what had happened on the Shield mission. That had been the first time someone had managed to break off any part of her suit. Another two questions accompanied the word in the middle:

Who?

Why?

_ Whoever punched her mask off must have been able to see in the smoke. Maybe they had gear like hers. They must've been very strong too. Was it planned? If it was why her? _

He kept on scribbling down questions at the corner of the screen. He took a step back to get a better look over everything he got.

_ It's not enough. _

Suddenly his phone rang. He didn't remember that he had it with him. Hastily he picked up.

"Pete?! Peter are you there? Where are you? Class begins in like 10 or something!" 

Ned was on the other end of the line. He didn't know how close Peter and Blue Moon had been or that Emma was behind that blue mask. 

Peter had no time for school now. He had to find out where Emma was.

"I'm not coming. See ya" 

He hung up before Ned could answer or say anything. Immediately he threw his phone onto the couch on the other side of the room. It was just a distraction. 

He started to color code his notes.

Questions in bright yellow.

Facts in green. 

Important stuff in pink and connections in red. 

While he marked everything he added a few things here and there. But his questions were still without any answers. 

He was taking another step backwards but before he could do anything else he bumped into someone. Startled, he jumped to the ceiling. 

"Oh, it's you, Mr Stark." 

He got down from the ceiling landing right in front of his desk. 

"How are you doing, kid? You know you could've at least told us you'd stay overnight or something…" 

The dark circles under his eyes were enough to tell Tony that even Peter hadn't slept.

"Sorry, I had to search for something…"

He turned back to his desk and started to scribble down some other things he remembered from the fire yesterday. 

"Did you find it?" 

Peter silently nodded his head yes. Just then did Tony realise that Peter's screen wasn't filled with chemistry like usually. It was full of pictures and notes. Some in his handwriting others taken from Emma's notes. 

"What are you doing…" 

His voice trailed off as he tried to make sense of the notes plastered on Peter's screen. To his surprise Peter turned around and started to explain everything.

"...therefore Emma most certainly wasn't in the building when it collapsed. And since her mash was laying on the floor by the hallway she probably was attacked there. Maybe they were delusional or did it on purpose or they were scared or -"

He was interrupted by his mentor. 

"So you're saying she was attacked purposely in the burning building and probably taken?"

This couldn't be. Everywhere they said she had been in the building and was buried underneath debris. But Peter had proof that she'd gotten out of there before the walls had given in and collapsed. 

He had proof that Emma was still alive.  They just didn't know where she was. 

"We have to find her." Tony rushed to his own desk knocking over a chair on his way. " Fri, hack into every security camera, everything. Search for Emma's biometrics everywhere." 

The Al didn't question it and immediately the screens around him were filled with security camera footage from all over the world. He walked back to Peter. 

"We need as many pictures and videos from about 5 Minutes before 'til at least one hour after the collapse from around the building. Do we know how the five started yet?"

Tony and Peter pulled every screen they could get to the corner of the room. 

They had spent about 3 hours looking through photos and videos when Steve and Natasha came in. Pepper had sent them to make sure Tony would eat enough. They hadn't known that Peter was here as well.

"What are you doing here? Don't you have school?" 

Peter and Tony didn't look up from the screens in front of them. 

Steve and Natasha looked at each other. They both knew how close Emma and Tony had been and that Peter and Emma saw each other in a sort of sibling way. Everyone that had met the two out of costume for the first time assumed they were siblings. Some had even asked if they were twins. 

While Steve tried to figure out what the two were looking at Natasha walked over to the big screen full of pictures and notes. 

"Steve...look at this…" It was fascinating. The two had figured out so much in just like 15 hours or something. 

"So she's out there somewhere…" 

" probably being held captive…" They immediately texted the other heroes and called Pepper. 

"This is crazy…" Everyone looked at the screens in awe.

The shock from yesterday was still present but at least they had hope now. They had proof that the girl was alive. And they would search for her until she was back safely. 

Some of the heroes left the lab. They knew they weren't helpful until they had a lead. Natasha, Steve, Sam and some others were sitting in the lab from time to time. They made sure that Peter and Tony ate enough.

* * *

"Are you excited? Tomorrow's your first day of sophomore year."

Peter and Emma were sitting on the edge of a skyscraper in Midtown. A fresh breeze messed up Emma's hair while they ate sandwiches a nice guy had given them after they had helped him with his car. 

"Not really. I mean it's just another school year. Besides, you survived it. Can't be that bad…" 

Peter punched her jokingly before snatching the other half of her sandwich.

"Gotta eat with my spider powers." 

He dodged Emma's punch, sticking to the wall of the building. The light breeze carried away her bright laugh as a tomato fell out of the sandwich in his hand.

* * *

He kept staring at the screen, desperately waiting for one single word to light up in light blue letters.

Photo after photo, face after face the program continued to scan the footage. In any other situation Peter would have felt guilty, knowing those pictures and clips were taken from people's phones without permission. But for the last hours he didn't think much about things like that. His thoughts kept running while he watched the building collapse from hundred different angles.

_ I could have been faster. I could have been there earlier. I could have helped.  _

_ Everything would have been faster.  _

_ I should have been there. _

Someone touched his shoulder from behind. He didn't turn around.

"Peter, you have to sleep. The sun is already setting."

It was Pepper. She had informed May earlier, explaining why Peter hadn't come home and why he wasn't in school. 

The boy didn't move. His eyes trained on the screen while he fidgeted with a broken pen.

"Same goes for you, Pepper. Go to bed. I'll make sure they sleep." Natasha was right behind her gently pulling her away. 

The spy waited for her to leave. Pulling a chair to the desk she sat down beside Tony. 

"We informed everyone. Clint and Laura are coming over soon." 

Tony nodded absentmindedly just to show her that he listened. 

"Scott, Hope, Wanda and Vis said they'll come too. Even Bruce and Thor want to visit…"

Her phone silently buzzed inside her hand. Another message. Sighing, she unlocked her phone. Wanda probably wanted andher update. 

* * *

"Isn't she a bit too young to train with us?" 

Bucky had never trained with her before. He looked at Natasha with confusion. 

"Aren't you a little too old to be alive?" 

The Russian spy had trouble holding back her laughter. That girl surprised her every time. 

Taken aback by Emma's blunt comment Bucky turned back to the girl in front of him. 

To even out the little match Emma was wearing her suit.  Bucky had still questioned the fairness of the fight but Steve had assured him it was alright. 

Before he could think any further the girl kicked him in the guts. 

Natasha watched as Emma tricked Bucky over and over again with decoy attacks and her flexibility. In the end they both stood on the sparring mates, panting. Giving up Bucky walked over to the spy.

"You taught her some of your little tricks?" 

"No. She just likes teasing people that underestimate her. Believe me, this happens more than you think… " 

* * *

After staring at the screens for a few minutes Natasha had enough. She stood up to walk around the room. Seeing the sunset didn't calm her nerves at all. She was more aware than anyone that in a case like this the first 48 hours were the most important. 

_ Why didn't you call for back-up before the firefighters got there?  _

Clint and his family had arrived but she didn't go up to greet them. It was the middle of the night. They needed to sleep.

A thud pulled Nat's attention back to the screens. Peter's head had slipped off his hand and hit the desk. Immediately he sat straight.

"Peter you need to sleep." Nat walked back over to him. 

"No. The first 48 hours after someone goes missing are the most important. " This kid watched too much TV. Peter was a lot like Tony and Emma when he had his mind set on something.  Nat knew this. It wouldn't get her very far to keep trying to reason with him.

He saw three people sitting in front of the screens as he entered the lab. The redhead in the middle turned around as he stepped closer to the screens full of pictures and videos. 

"Hey." She stood up before walking over to the super soldier. 

"Still nothing?" 

A nod.

He walked past her to join the two sitting at the desks. "Go to sleep, Nat. I got this." 

The spy tried to smile at him but it didn't reach her eyes. "Call if something changes, Cap." She turned around to get to the elevator on the other end of the room. 

Slowly she watched the doors close in front of her. 

"Where are you, Ems?" 

On the Avengers floor she went straight to her room. Everyone else was probably sleeping. Before falling onto her bed, Natasha made sure her phone was charging. She couldn't risk missing any message now.

Sam and Steve changed places the next morning. 

Clint was sitting in the kitchen making breakfast together with Laura when Wanda and Vision arrived. The usual chatter and bright atmosphere was long gone. Everyone only talked to each other when it was necessary. The constant tension in the room was nearly unbearable. Still, everyone came out of their room once in a while, just to check if anything had changed.

Natasha was standing on the balcony, staring blankly at the lake when Wanda and Vision joined her.

"It's about time for lunch. You wanna eat with us?"

The spy shook her head no. "I just got up. Besides, I know I'm not the only one that can't eat right now."

Wanda checked her phone again, even though she knew there wouldn't be any new messages. "I need to charge my phone. I'll be right back."

Vision followed Wanda back inside. He knew that he was not the best when it came to interactions with humans in crisis.

Just a moment after Vision had closed the door to the balcony, Natasha felt her phone buzzing lightly in her pocket. It felt like she was getting one message after the other.

Quickly she unlocked it. She had expected everything. The news going crazy about something, Bruce texting her, a new mission from Shield. 

But to her surprise a bunch of messages from different chats flooded her screen, all from the same contact. 

"Emma…"

She rushed inside while scanning the messages for anything. Inside everyone was rushing out of their room, phone in their hands. It's been roughly 40 hours since the fire, yet every single message was asking why no one was answering their phone or rushing to the burning building in Queens. 

In the lab Peter was still looking at those pictures, drowning out everything else around him. That was until snippets of a song started to fill the tense silence of the room. 

He pulled himself away from the screens and ran across the room. Tony watched him confused as the teen searched for his abandoned phone. 

"Who is it?" 

Peter rushed back to the desks on the other side of the room with his phone in his hands. 

"I-It's Emma. Tons of texts from Emma." 

Hastily he tried to read them, stopping only when he realised what the messages meant. 

"They're from the fire…she asks why no one's answering their phone or reading her texts." 

He looked up at Tony, already knowing what this meant. Before he could say anything, though, Natasha came rushing into the lab. The rest of the team right behind her. 

No one needed to say anything as Tony realised that everyone (except Vision) was holding a phone. 

"Someone planned that fire." Bucky finally broke the silence. 

"Yeah. And whoever did that, didn't want anyone to interrupt." 

Whoever had laid out that fire, didn't want more than one hero on scene. 


	5. from where to when

"...so whoever took her, blocked all her comms and that block wore off just now." 

Everyone was sitting around the lab, staring at their phones. It was crazy. No one could find a way something like this could have happened. The blockade for messages wouldn't 'wear off' like a lousy spell or something, there had to be a logical reason to why the messages had only been delivered 40 hours or so after they had been sent.

"Maybe because she didn't have her phone with her. I tracked it. She left it in her locker in school." 

They knew that Emma had often left her phone when she went on patrol but usually messages and phone calls worked just fine. 

"What if the blockade had been active as long as she wore her suit. When her suit is deactivated the systems are a bit longer online than it takes the suit to retract into her shoes." The Russian spy didn't talk to anyone specific, just throwing anything that could help in the room. 

"Which means her suit is no longer active…" Scott didn't know Emma that much or was close to the Avengers but he had still come over. He would want his teammates to do the same if Cassie ever went missing like this.

"Can you hack into her suit and try to activate it from here? I mean it's connected to her phone and the Avengers servers, right? They're both here…" 

Tony turned around to the screen, opening a new window he started. "I'll only work if the housing isn't destroyed completely…" 

The sound of the keyboard filled the silent room. Everyone was praying for this to work but also trying to think of other ways to use the messages to find Emma.

* * *

Ned stood in front of Midtown Tech. Usually one of his friends was here by now. Peter didn't pick up his phone and Emma's was dead. He didn't think much of it. After all Peter was Spider-Man and Emma lived together with the Avengers. Besides, it wasn't the first time they missed school.

Ned turned around and followed the crowd of students inside the building.

* * *

"No...nononononono...why isn't it connected? why...?" Tony stared at the screen.

No Connection. Why were bad guys nowadays smart enough to destroy the housing? How had they even known that her suit was nanotech? 

He tried another thing. If Nat was right, maybe he could follow the messages back and find her location. He started again.

After a few minutes he stopped again. Nothing. The only location he got was the one where the building in Queens had burned down. 

They tried a few other things for the next hours. But every time they found nothing. 

Soon Peter and Tony fell asleep in front of the screens. Exhaustion had finally gotten the better of them. Everyone left the lab, they didn't dare to move the two. 

The next day Peter and Tony woke up to Pepper and May standing in the lab. "I understand that you want to do something, I really do. But Pete, you can't skip school and stay up until your whole body shuts down. You need to rest." 

The two women sat beside the heroes with worried expressions. 

"You did everything you can. Let Fri do her thing and find Emma. You'll need all your energy once we know where she is…" 

Reluctantly Tony and Pepper walked upto the penthouse. In the kitchen Tony ate a bit but after that he immediately grabbed the first StarkPad he could get his hands on. He started to sketch and plan something. Even though he understood that right now there was nothing to do but wait, he couldn't just sit around and go on with his life. His notes were nearly as messy as Emma's, which made it nearly impossible for everyone to figure out what was going on in his mind.

May and Peter went back to New York. Finally Peter took off his suit and took a shower. The smell of fire and smoke had been stuck in his clothes and hair. Ned had sent him copies of his notes from the past few days of school. Actually he was still sending them, after each period. 

The next day Peter went to school again. Thanks to Ned, he had no problem catching up. Ned had noticed immediately that something was on Peter's mind but he didn't push it. He was still worried though. Peter had almost been late, which was no surprise but Ned knew his friend was either too early or far too late, never right on time. 

At lunch Peter didn't eat a bit. He just stared at his food with empty eyes.

"Pete? You alright there?" 

He didn't respond. Or react at all. Getting a bit scared by his friend's strange behavior, Ned tapped him on the shoulder. 

"What?" Peter turned around to him, startled. 

"Dude, you alright there? You seem a bit zoned out…"

Immediately Peter stared back at his tray. He hesitated before answering. "...yeah, I'm fine…" 

Before Ned could try to ask his friend a bit more, Peter stood up, leaving his food untouched. 

He caught up to him in the hallway. Knowing that his friend was in a bad mood, Ned tried to change the subject. "Have you seen Ems? She hasn't been in school the last two days."

Peter right out ignored him. He knew explaining things wouldn't help at all. Plus, he had struggled the whole day, trying to get his mind to focus on school. 

At the Avengers facility, the heroes took on 'shifts' in the big lab. Every few hours they changed their positions, making sure that there was someone at any time. Even in the middle of the night. 

This pattern went on for weeks. With every passing day, Tony and Pepper got more and more desperate to find their daughter.

Peter felt like he was on autopilot in school. Nearly every day he went out on patrol, always checking in with the team of heroes. 

It was nearly seven weeks after the fire in Queens, Tony was sitting in the lab with Bruce and Natasha, when a word in bright bold letters filled the screens in front of them.  The billionaire nearly fell out of his chair at Friday's alarm. It was silent in the lab for a moment. The only sounds in the background were the rain on the windows and the far sound of footsteps. For a moment it seemed like the world had stopped. And then a ton of heroes came rushing into the lab. Everyone's eyes immediately locked onto the screens.

"We found her…" 

"Where?"

* * *

Her body was numb. 

Yet, she still felt the pain.

She didn't know how long it had been since the last time but she honestly couldn't care less.

Trying to distract herself from the feeling of her body being torn apart cell by cell and put back together, she focused on the sound of rain hitting the thin metal ceiling above her. It had been raining for quite a while. The ground beneath her was starting to get muddy. The guards had left before the rain got too heavy. And before the thunder had started. 

Suddenly the dark room was filled with light for a split second.

Emma tensed up but to her surprise the cold rain hit her dirty skin.

The smell of burnt wood mixed with wet dirt filled her lungs.

A lightning had struck a tree right next to the little hut and burnt a hole into the wall next to her.

The new guards would arrive soon. But maybe she could get away now.

Careful, she climbed through the hole nearly slipping on the mud outside. She was in a forest. The rain drenched her immediately. 

Slowly she started to walk. They had taken away her shoes and more, but right now she didn't care. She had a chance to get away and she would not lay around in the dirt any longer, just waiting for them to come back. 

Over the sounds of nature she heard cars driving through the rain. Starting to pick up speed, she ran towards the sound she hadn't heard in so long. 

She reached the street but even before another car passed by, her body refused to move. She collapsed beside the road. The pain she had tried to ignore hitting her all at once. 

The next time she woke up, a blanket was wrapped around her. She was sitting in the backseat of a car. The car was driving into a garage. 

Immediately after the engine had stopped, a man rushed to open the door. He carefully lifted her up and carried her into the house. The man carefully put her down on the couch. A woman came rushing towards her. 

"You're awake…hey, I'm Maggie… and that is Tom, my husband…" Maggie pointed at the man that had carried her inside.

"What would you think about a hot shower?" 

The girl just nodded, not trusting her own voice. 

"Can you walk?" 

Slowly she got up. Maggie helped her to the bathroom. "Do you wanna sit down? I'll help you wash the dirt off…" 

After her skin was clean once again and the old and ripped shirt was replaced by some of Maggie's clothes, she was sitting on the couch with a cup of tea in her hands. Maggie and Tom were sitting beside her. They somehow reminded her of her own parents. They must be sick with worry. 

"Do you wanna tell us what happened? It's okay if you don't want to…" 

Pictures of the last few weeks flashed through her head, leaving her pale and unmoving. 

"You don't have to. Can you tell us your name? Your parents are probably worried…" Tom was looking at the teen with worry in his eyes. 

They didn't know why she had been out there. But she must've been there for some time. Her body had been covered in dirt and her hair had been a mess too. She had looked so fragile laying in the dirt beside the road, shivering from the cold.

"Emma…" Her voice was barely louder than a whisper. 

Maggie and Tom looked shocked at each other. It sounded like the girl hadn't used her voice in weeks and even though she was drinking her third cup of tea, her throat seemed to be dry, making her voice sound even more raspy and broken.

"What would you think about, we get you something to wear? Something that actually fits you?" Tom suggested, looking at the girl in his wife's clothes. 

Maggie had originally been on her way to get their groceries. Their fridge was nearly empty. They also knew that they couldn't just leave her here. 

The three entered the store together. By now, Emma knew it must have been about seven weeks since she had been ambushed in that burning building. She also knew that she was in a different state. The ride to the store had helped clear her mind. She had to think of a way to get home. Or at least contact anyone.

* * *

The screens in the lab all showed one picture. 

By now Peter and May were here, too, staring at the picture together with the other heroes. Thanks to Fri the quality of the security camera footage was not as bad as it usually was. They could clearly see Emma standing between a couple. Her hair was wet and the clothes she wore, obviously belonged to the woman next to her. She looked exhausted, always leaning onto something to hold herself upright. 

If not for Steve and Natasha, Tony would have already suited up and brought her home. But deep down he knew that his teammates were right. He couldn't just burst into a random grocery store. 

"What do you want to do? Sit here and wait?!" 

Usually Tony wasn't one to lose his cool but right now the only thing he knew was that after seven weeks, after even Shield had stopped their search, they finally knew exactly where Emma was. They knew she wasn't in immediate danger. All it would take was a short flight and his daughter would finally be back home safely.

* * *

"So where are you from, Emma?" 

Maggie was holding up a shirt to Emma's frame to make sure it would fit the teen.

"New York. But I live upstate New York…" Her gaze wandered around the store. She still tried to think of an easy way to call home but without her tech she was lost. She couldn't recall a single phone number. 

"New York must be really exciting. With all the superheroes and stuff. But how'd you get here all on your own…?" Tom was talking more to himself than anyone specific while watching his wife pick out clothes for the teen. 

"It is pretty busy. But that also means you're never really alone." Emma's gaze found some colorful shirts with familiar faces between caps and sunglasses. How often she had seen those faces in real life. 

"Have seen them up close?" Tom stood beside Emma as she leaned onto the shopping cart. With a small smile she nodded, even though it didn't reach her eyes. "Must've been scary. They sure are powerful."

"Not really. Sure they're powerful. But they're human just like everyone else."

Maggie tossed a hoodie into the shopping cart before joining the two. "I think we've got everything. Let's head back." 

Back at their house Maggie and Tom put away the groceries while Emma changed.

Now in a plain grey hoodie and some pants that actually fit her, Emma continued to try and come up with a way to contact any of the Avengers. Maggie sat down beside her while Tom was on the phone in the kitchen.

"Do you have anyone that could come and pick you up?" 

Emma slowly nodded her head yes. She knew the heroes would pick her up immediately if they only knew where she was. But how could she send them her location? Her tech had been destroyed in front of her eyes. 

Maggie pulled out her phone and offered it to Emma. At first Emma wanted to refuse since she couldn't think of anyone's phone number. But then the design of the device gave her a hint.

"A StarkPhone?" She took it in one hand, the steel cool in her hand. 

"It's an older one…" Maggie shrugged. Why would it matter if it was a StarkPhone or not? 

Immediately Emma started to send messages to the servers of Stark Industries. Simple 'hello's and 'it's Emma's was all it took until she got a reply.

"What's your address?" 

Maggie simply took the phone out of Emma's hands to type it in herself. But before she could do so another message lit up in light blue on the black screen.

'we got it' 

Confused, Maggie looked at Emma. Since when did her phone have this messenger? There was no phone number or anything. Only the logo of Stark Industries. 

"What's this app?" She showed Emma the screen and therefore the new message. 

" It's no app. It's an improvised chat via the SI servers. I couldn't recall anyone's phone number so I just went for it, hoping Friday would pick up those messages."

Maggie stared at the teen in shock. This was not what she had expected. Tom was standing behind her with a similar shocked expression plastered across his face. 

"What…ever…" Emma had forgotten the exhaustion of the last weeks. This was something she knew. Something she could do and had fuIl control over.

"So when do you think they're gonna be here to pick you up?" Tom tried to ignore what just happened and focussed on what was important right now. 

Emma knew that in this situation her dad was unpredictable. "I don't know. But please don't be too shocked or scared when they're here. They're probably just happy that I'll finally go home…" 

* * *

They had lost Emma after she had left that store but luckily Friday had picked up her messages on the servers. 

It had taken a moment but soon Tony had a location.

Natasha and Steve had to hold him back before he could take his suit and simply fly over there to get Emma. "Tony! We don't know anything about her condition. The quinjet is the only option right now." 

Reluctantly he got into said jet. Peter, Wanda and Bruce came too while Clint sat down in the cockpit. They started immediately. On the flight no one said a single word. The room was filled with tension, weighing down on their shoulders. 

* * *

"I'm gonna go get the guest room setup for you…" 

Maggie was about to stand up but Emma stopped her.

"I don't think they're gonna take that long. They're probably already on their way…" 

As if on cue, Emma heard a sound in the distance she had really missed in the past few weeks. 

Tom seemed to have heard it too. He looked from the front door to Emma and back. 


	6. the moon again

Not a moment later the three heard a knock at the door. A shy smile crept onto Emma's face as she recognized the soft rhythm but it did not stay long. 

Maggie got up from the couch to answer the door. Assuming it was one of their neighbors, she got ready to turn down the visitor. But whatever she had wanted to say died unspoken on her tongue as she found a group of well-known heroes on her doorstep. 

"We're sorry to show up without warning. May we come in?" 

Steve was standing in front of the group since he was the calmest in any kind of situation. Also the others hadn't thought about how whoever lived here and therefore whoever Emma was with at the moment, probably didn't expect heroes to come pick up the teenager. 

Maggie stepped aside and opened the door further to let the guests come in. Not only did heroes from New York stand in front of her, they also seemed somewhat relieved, maybe even hopeful. None of them was wearing their hero costumes she had seen them fight in. 

In the living room, Tom was standing between Emma and the doorway, shielding her from the visitors. But when he recognised the six, standing in his hallway, the tension left his body. 

"Um… Mr Rogers, sir...Ms Romanoff...Dr Banner…"  Confused, he looked at the group of heroes. 

Steve watched as the man's eyes widened. Luckily Tony got lost in the little crowd. "I'm sorry, we're rushing in like this. But I believe we're not the only visitors here…"

Before he could elaborate, Tony pushed through the group around him. He had caught a glimpse of the girl on the couch behind the man in front of Steve. She had tried to see who Tom was talking to, as he had craned his neck to look around Steve. 

"Ems…" He stopped in his tracks when he was standing in front of the couch. 

Emma looked up at him, tears already forming in both their eyes. "Dad…" She leapt off the couch, literally jumping into her dad's arms. 

The world seemed to stop for a moment. Finally, Tony held his daughter in his arms.

Finally, the teen saw familiar faces. After nearly two months, she was finally safe, finally the warmth around her reached her heart. 

Tony hugged her tightly, not even thinking about letting her go. Some horrible thoughts worked their way up to his brain as he noticed just how light she was. He could feel every bone of her, holding onto him as if he'd turn to dust if she'd let go. 

_ What happened to you? _

Everyone had turned around to look at the two. Peter rushed to them too. He knew Tony didn't train and already saw him struggling to hold Emma up. 

As the girl saw him approach too, she pulled him into the bone crushing hug. At first he froze. Yeah, Emma had always been a sunshine but the closest you'd ever get to a hug from her were sparring sessions. He, too, felt every bone of hers. It scared him. 

After seven weeks, a smile slowly crept onto the face of the russian spy. Under any other circumstances she'd join the hug, she knew how rare they were, but right now she wanted to leave them to it. Out of the whole team, Tony and Peter had suffered the most. It had been no surprise since Tony was her dad and Peter was basically her big brother. Silently unshed tears glistened in ear eyes. Blinking them away slowly, Natasha side hugged Wanda. 

The Scarlet Witch watched from the sidelines as well. Natasha's hug kept her grounded, something Vision had done the last few weeks at the compound. The touch helped her to stay in touch with reality.

Bruce was standing off to the side. He wasn't good with new people and he didn't dare to disturb the heartbreaking family reunion. 

A soft smile on the captain's face, he watched the heartwarming scenery. If it were for him, he would freeze the moment and conserve it forever. Seeing tony this happy and openly showing it was very rare. But he knew they had to head back home. Meaning the moment, as wholesome as it was, had to end, eventually. 

Maggie and Tom were confused as hell. First they found a girl in the woods and then a bunch of her world's strongest heroes showed up on their doorstep. But nonetheless they had to admit that the scenery in their living room was beautiful. The young girl had hardly shown any emotions and now she was hugging her family, as it seemed, literally radiating with happiness. 

Maggie was standing beside her husband as one Steve Rogers tapped them on their shoulders. They turned around, becoming aware again of who was standing in their house on this unusual day. He gestured to get away from the three in the living room and go into the kitchen. 

He leaned against the counter across the couple. "I understand that you might have no clue what's going on. If you have any questions just ask. It's okay. " He looked at the young couple, waiting for a reaction. 

For a moment it was quiet in the kitchen but then Tom calmly asked the most obvious question. "So... Emma's...the daughter of Tony... Stark? Ironman?" 

Steve simply nodded. "Secret daughter. Obviously. He wanted her to have a normal childhood without any paparazzi…" 

Maggie took in a deep breath. This whole thing must be hard for everyone. Being one of the world's most well-known heroes, yet seeing his own daughter, he only wanted to protect, like this. "How... how long was she away from home...?" 

Calmly Steve answered. 

The shock was written all over their faces. Seven. Weeks. The girl had been out there, completely alone, for seven weeks. Just looking at her behaviour, they were sure: she must've gone through hell. And back. 

"What happened to her...?" Maggie glanced to the living room, lost in her thoughts just like Tom. "If only we knew…"

Bruce stuck his head into the kitchen, shaking everyone out of their thoughts. He was just as overwhelmed with the situation as everyone else. Cautiously he broke the silence. "Ehm... I think we should head out...they all seem exhausted…" 

Steve followed him back to the living room. Exhaustion had already gotten the better of the girl. She was laying on the couch, still hugging Tony and Peter. Natasha and Wanda joined him. Carefully the spy approached the three. "hey... guys… we should head out…" 

Reluctantly Peter and Tony got up, making room for Steve to pick up the sleeping teen. Wanda helped him by making sure nothing would be in his way. Opening the door, Wanda followed him. Bruce and Natasha were right behind her, while Peter and Tony trailed behind the group. 

After they got out, Nat went back once more. "Thanks. I know this is probably completely weird to you two, but thanks…" 

"No problem. Your secret's safe with us. Good luck." Maggie didn't know why exactly she wished them good luck. It just felt like they could really use it.

The spy's lips curled up into a soft smile just before she turned around to fellow the group of heroes back to the quinjet. 

Steve carefully put Emma down onto the seats in the back of the plane. Tony slowly sat down on the cold ground beside her while Peter curled up on the seat at Emma's feet. Clint had stayed behind just in case they would've had to rush away or anything had been up with Emma. As soon as everyone was back he closed the ramp and took off into the air again. Natasha soon sat beside him while Bruce had already started to check Emma's vitals. 

Her pulse and breathing was stable but nonetheless different from before. Her body temperature seemed to waver too. One moment she had a high fever, the next she started to shiver. It seemed like she had trouble holding it on one level. After he was finished with the tests he could do on the quinjet he sat down next to Wanda. 

It was quiet in the plane for the remainder of the flight. Tony, Wanda and Bruce were staring out of the windows. Ever so often their gazes wandered to the sleeping figures on the seats. Peter had fallen asleep as well. It had been really hard for him to get a good night of sleep, always staying up long either letting his thoughts spiral or being out on patrol to calm his racing mind. He had drifted off during school a lot, earning weird looks from his classmates. 

Clint and Nateasha sat silently in the cockpit. Natasha had sent a little warning to everyone. Back on the pictures of that store's security camera footage you couldn't exactly tell how fragile the teenager really was. She was practically just skin and bones. Of course Emma still stood tall but her body just wasn't used to standing anymore. Aside from that, though, the spy had noticed how, no matter how genuine, the girl's smile didn't reach her eyes. At least not like it used to do. 

They soon reached the Avengers facility and Clint landed the quinjet on the roof. Vision, Bucky and Pepper were already waiting for them. Slowly the ramp at the back of the plane opened. Steve was caring Emma again, the others beside him. Careful, as if the teen in his hands was made of glass, he walked right into the elevator.

After Pepper had read Nat's message, she had expected the worst. Now, seeing just how small her daughter looked, tears started to form in her eyes before slowly rolling down her cheeks. Pictures of Tony after Afghanistan flashed through her head. A sob escaped her as Tony pulled her into a tight hug. The elevator was filled with a heavy silence, only broken by the quiet noises of its working engine. 

The kitchen was deserted as the elevator stopped. Steve carried Emma into her room, laying her down onto the soft mattress. Bucky, who had picked up the sleeping Spider-Man, carefully placed the teen on the couch in the room. Tony sat down next to his intern, while Pepper sat down on the edge of their daughter's bed. She brushed a strand or hair out of the teen's face. Soon the two adults had fallen asleep, too.

* * *

_ A dark dust surrounded her, freezing her in place. Unable to move, she started to panic. She couldn't even heave in a much needed breath to fill her burning lungs with fresh oxygen. Suddenly the dust closed in on her, becoming hard as stone against her skin.  _

_ Why didn't they just believe her? _

_ Why would she lie, when they're threatening to literally kill her whole family? _

_ She had no freakin' powers!  _

_ The stone covered her whole body, but then it stopped. The pain stopped. _

_ She felt the wounds around her wrists close. Every scratch and cut that plastered her body was healing in mere seconds. If she had not been so relieved that the pain finally stopped, she would have freaked out. But logic had been replaced with pure instincts after the first few times they had visited her in the dark room. A few hours ago they had knocked her out. After she woke up she didn't recognise the walls around her. Only a moment after she had stood up from the dirty ground, the door she hadn't noticed before was opened for a split second and some stone was thrown into the dark little hut. After it hit the ground, the dust had filled the room.  _

_ She took in a sharp breath, breaking the silence in the little room.  _

_ For a moment, she felt as if everything was finally over. Her racing thoughts stopped as the fog in her mind cleared. It felt as if time had stopped moving. A comfortable warmth radiated from the stone around her body. After days, maybe weeks, of laying on the cold ground, the warmth soothed the ache in her very bones. She felt like laying on a cloud on a late summer evening.  _

_ But then the warmth started to increase, heating up her skin. _

_ The stone started to tighten around her.  _

_ She could feel thousands of tiny needles breaking through her skin and as much as she wanted to move, she couldn't.  _

_ The pain started to spread, moving deeper into every single cell of her being. _

_ For a split second she thought it had stopped again. The heat had disappeared and the pain stayed at one level. Carefully she tried to take in a slow breath, but the temperature dropped.  _

_ Her body started to tremble as much as the little place allowed just before she could literally feel every cell in her body tearing apart. Her vision turned black as an agonising scream escaped her. She couldn't bear the pain anymore. She hated feeling weak but this was on a whole other level. This was no more than some guys wanting answers from her. This was going further.  _

_ The stone around her broke into a million pieces, crashing against the walls around her like tiny bullets. Not ready to support her own weight again, she fell to the ground. Laying in the dirt, she struggled to breath. At least her body had stopped to shiver… _

_ She was thrown onto a clearing in a forest. Struggling to hold herself upright, she waited for something to happen, anything. The air clung to her skin, mixing with dirt, sweat and blood. She needed a moment to adjust to her surroundings, but before she was ready, someone attacked her from behind.  _

_ Not able to fight at all, she raised her arms in front of her, preparing for his hit to land right where he aimed. She took in a sharp breath but the impact didn't come. She felt a slight shift of temperature as she exhaled slowly. You could see her breath formig a small cloud in the air. Slowly she lifted her head to look up from the ground. Her eyes grew wide as she saw her opponent trapped in a block of ice. Where'd that come from?  _

_ Someone behind her stepped on a stick, snapping it into half. Startled, she turned around.  _

_ Now she knew what was going on, still she couldn't think of a way she could get out of here. On any normal day she would have had no problem fighting them off, but she hadn't eaten or slept much over the past few weeks, not to mention the pain and wounds.  _

_ She saw one of them coming at her faster than the others. He raised his hand, ready to attack. In response she raised her right hand in front of her. This time she didn't close her eyes. A burst of flames shot from her arm, burning her enemy. The warm air blew her tangled hair out of her face. Shocked, she looked at her hands. Was it possible…? _

_ Someone tackled her, pushing her into the cold ground. A needle was pushed into her shoulder before her vision went black again. _

_ After that they had kept her in the little hut in the woods. Once per day a piece of bread as hard as stone was thrown into the room. It always was right after the new guards arrived. For a few days now, she had heard them mubble about some power transfer that would happen in the next two weeks.  _

_ At first the cold hadn't bothered her, maybe because she could produce flames. But from day to day she got weaker. She couldn't stand sometimes.  _

_ She heard the guards outside rant about a storm growing. To her surprise they left soon after the rain had started to fall, but not without gifting her new cuts. She was laying on the floor, hearing the thunder like she was underwater. Her whole body was numb. _

* * *

__ Suddenly she woke up. In panic she looked around, only to find herself laying in her bed. It was dark outside, still her room was illuminated by the moon. One of her hands pushed her hair out of her face. Her gaze landed on the three figures peacefully sleeping in her room. Emma had no clue how long she had slept, the last thing she remembered was seeing Peter and her dad. 

Her thoughts began to race in circles. She still didn't understand what had happened to her. More precisely what they had done to her. Frustrated she climbed out of her bed. It was cold but she adjusted quickly to it. Silently she tip-toed to the door before slowly opening it. 

As quiet as possible she closed it behind her. Right after the soft click of the door her stomach growled. She turned around, looking around the room to make sure she was alone, before walking to the fridge. She studied its contents, trying to decide what to eat. 

"I wouldn't eat anything too heavy…" 

She tensed up while closing the fridge, eliminating the only source of light in the room. 

"... at least for now. Can't sleep?" 

After a moment Emma recognised the voice, usually laced with mischief. 

"No."

The basket of fruits on the counter caught her eye. She went to grab a banana when the man leaned against the cabinets broke the silence yet again. "Nightmare?" 

Emma nodded. She knew he had once struggled with them too. 

"You wanna talk about it? Helped me…" 

Finally taking the first bite she shook her head. "Not really. But thanks, Loki…" 

The air in the room seemed to get a bit colder as Emma stared at the moon on the other side of the windows. The black haired man walked towards it, only stopping to open the balcony door. A cool breeze found its way into the kitchen. 

Still eating, Emma followed him. She knew about his nightmares. He had told her when he and his brother had lived at the compound for a while. They had often met in the dead of the night. They had talked for hours. 

"Are they gonna stop? The nightmares...?" 


	7. first steps back to 'normal'

The two were leaning onto the railing of the balcony, gazing at the moon in the night sky. No words were needed for them to feel understood. Loki had his black hair pulled back into a messy bun. Uncharacteristically he wore a hoodie that was too big for him. The others thought it looked weird but Emma thought it showed that he was human too. 

"They lose their consistency over time..." He looked at the teen to his surprise she was wearing a loose shirt. He himself had no problem with the cold but even the thought of standing here in just a shirt sent a cold shiver down his spine. "Aren't you cold? The breeze is quite chilly tonight..." 

The teen simply shrugged her shoulders instead of answering. Loki moved to grab one of the blankets from a chair but Emma stopped him. "It's fine. I'm not cold…" Her eyes were still locked onto the bright moon.

"They kept you inside…" 

It wasn't a question, still Emma slowly nodded. Everyone on the team of heroes had always believed her, whenever she had smiled through the pain of fresh wounds and aching bruises. Since she was a hero and had to keep up her secret identity, she had become a quite skilled liar. Sure it wasn't a good trait entirely, but came in quite handy in some situations.  The only ones that had ever been able to look through it were her parents, Peter and Loki. The latter one would always recognise her behaviour, it was very similar to his own. 

"And those scars are new too…" 

Her head fell down, causing her hair to cover her face. She hadn't bothered to cut it this summer. Now it nearly covered her whole back. 

"You know, sometimes it's really annoying that you're observant like this…" Usually she would have joked around, calling him a stalker or something, but the god had already recognised the sad and broken tone behind her usual sincere and cheerful voice. Suddenly Emma turned away from the sight of the moon. You could feel that she wanted to say something. Taking in a deep breath she turned around to Loki. 

"Is everyone here…?" 

He looked a bit confused at the girl, not understanding why worry wavered in her voice. "Only Barton and Lang not. Their children need to go to school. But they come as often as they can…" 

Of course everyone would come. What did she expect?

At first she had been somewhat relieved to meet the god of mischief but while looking at the moon hanging in the night sky, it had occurred to her. If Loki was here, Thor would be, too. Just like a bunch of other heroes. Of course it was touching to know they cared for her. But that also meant she had made them worry. Maybe even scared. And furthermore they had probably overworked themselves because of her. If only she had been faster… Nothing of this would have happened.  "'m sorry…" 

She walked back into the kitchen, leaving Loki alone on the balcony. Without a specific destination she walked down the stairs. Usually she had no problem racing them up. Now she was leaning onto her knees, trying to catch her breath after jogging down two floors. Still a bit out of breath, she opened the door in front of her. Slowly she made her way down the hallway. It was dark but she didn't bother to turn on the lights. 

Turning right and left here and there she walked along the glasswalls of the compound aimlessly. She wasn't even wearing shoes but the cold didn't bother her. After a while she found herself stepping onto a mat. She sat down in the middle of the room, facing the wall of windows. She simply sat there, staring at the moon, trying to sort her thoughts. After a small cloud hid the moon away, Emma laid down.

Staring at the dark ceiling she tried to figure out what the stone had done to her about a week ago. Closing her eyes, she tried to visualize what had happened in the forest. She tried to remember what she had felt and the feeling of the air around her changing temperature. Soon her thoughts got foggy, slowly losing focus. She drifted off into a light slumber, this time free of memories playing in a loop.

"Emma?"

She opened her eyes, immediately regretting it. The bright light of the sun blinded her for a moment. "Yeah?" She sat up from the ground and stretched her stiff limbs.

"Did you train? On your first day back?" Bruce looked at her confused. Of course he had expected her to be eager to get back into action but training on her first morning back had not exactly been what he thought she'd do.

"No. I just couldn't sleep. Needed to change my surroundings…" 

Bruce was holding a StarkPad in his hands. "Tony wants you to do a few tests...just to be sure you're alright…" 

Emma began to walk out of the gym without turning back to Dr Banner. "I'll take a quick shower first. Meet you in the lab." 

Before Bruce could answer the elevator doors closed behind Emma.

Back in her room the teen grabbed some fresh clothes. Before actually taking a shower Emma brushed her hair. The seven weeks without doing so had left a lot at knots. The last two years she had let her grow back to its former length. 

Her body was littered with bruises and wounds, still she wore a shirt and some pants she had grabbed. She was on her way down to Bruce' lab, humming some song that was stuck in her head, as Natasha ran up to her from behind. "Great to see you back, Ems." The teen just chuckled at the cheerful spy. "Gotta go. Dad wants to do some tests. Well Bruce is doing them...but you know what I mean." With that she stepped into the lab. 

It looked like Bruce had already been waiting for her. Calmly Emma sat down on one of the chairs while Bruce wrapped up the project he had worked on. 

"So… we already checked your vitals on the quinjet...Friday can you scan her…" The Al did as she was told, presenting the results on the nearest screen for Bruce. 

"Weird...your body temperature is still a bit off normal...and you're healing faster…" He was mumbling to himself, thinking out loud. He stopped for a brief moment. Then he turned to another screen and started to search for something. 

Confused Emma watched as the Avenger started to compare the data on his tablet with the one he had pulled upon the bigger screen. He started scribbling something down on the tablet before turning back to Emma.

"Was there anything...strange...or…abnormal that happened?"

Emma looked him dead in the eye. No one had really asked what happened but from Loki she knew that the heroes already knew the main things. 

"You know, I think getting kidnapped and beaten to get answers is totally normal. Some guys destroying your tech and cursing 'cause you're not Spider-Man nor have any superpowers yourself? Happens every other day."

Even though nothing of it answered his question, Bruce took notes. "So they wanted superpowers? For what?" 

Emma stood up from the chair to look at the screens herself. "I don't know. They talked about power-transfer. But there's no way to transfer powers like Peter's to someone else. They were pretty pissed off that it was just me though..." Looking over Bruce' notes she tried to find out why he was so irritated by the scan's results. It wasn't too hard since he had marked it in red. 

"'Changed sequence in DNA… mutant?' Bruce, if I were a mutant, I would have had powers or at least the gens for them since birth..." She pointed at the mistake in his notes before leaving the room. "See ya'." 

Instead of going back to her room, she opened her lab. "Inhuman…" She opened the Avengers database and searched for the word she had been missing for weeks. "'...powers unlocked when the person comes into contact with terrigen...sequence of DNA changes…' Great." She fell back onto her chair with a loud sigh. Great. First some guys ruin her training by keeping her looked up and weak for weeks and then they give her who-knows-what superpowers. Now she had to not only train more but also figure out what inhuman skill she had and how to control it.

Peter and Nat were just sitting around the gym, scrolling through their phones, when Emma showed up. The bruises on her arms were already starting to fade and some wounds were nearly healed. To their surprise the girl didn't even look at the sparring area, she went straight to the treadmill. 

Music blaring through her headphones, Emma stared straight ahead. She had stayed in her lab for a while, reading articles, interviews and anything else she had been able to gather about Inhumans which was not really that much. After she had been out at stuff to read, her thoughts had trailed off into the deep. To distract herself she had decided to start training right away. Also she had some time to spare, while Friday ran multiple tests on her DNA. Maybe she would know more when they were done.

Nat was surprised to see her in the gym since everyone knew Tony wanted everything checked before she would go back to her usual everyday life. But there she was staring straight ahead while doing a light work-out.

After her workout, the teen went to take a quick shower before going back to her lab. 

Still drying her hair with a towel she walked around the holo-desk. She turned on the holographic screen. Immediately the results of the tests started to pop up on her screen. Biology wasn't her favorite part of science, physics and coding were her things. 

"Friday, analyse." The Al did as she was taking a moment before filling the screen with a detailed analysis of the tests' results. 

"It appears that you are indeed an inhuman. However the already diagnosed faster healing seems to be only a side effect of your powers. Your main powers couldn't be identified but they seem to be the cause of your unstable body temperature." That was surprisingly much. Honestly Emma had expected to get nothing out of the tests. She turned back to the notes she had taken earlier, searching for how the powers of an inhuman were identified. 

She was deep in her thoughts, mumbling while scanning the article in front at her once more. 

"...'used subconsciously until they become aware of them' but how? How do you get aware of them? Is there something you need to do? Maybe they need to be activated somehow?..." 

She was lost in thought and didn't even notice Pepper and Tony walking in. Pepper set a plate on the desk and hugged Emma from behind before rushing back to the next meeting. Tony however stayed in the lab, sitting down on the couch next to the abandoned towel.

"What are you working on? A new suit?" He didn't move from his place on the couch. 

"Everyone thinks Blue Moon is dead. If I flew in there with a new suit as if nothing had happened, the people would be even more confused…" With a loud sigh she turned away from the desk, grabbing the food before sitting down on the floor. Her back leaned against the desk she started to eat the sandwiches her mum had left for her. 

"But you'll still go out there again sooner or later?" He didn't really need to ask, he already knew the answer. Still, he couldn't help but worry. What if something happened again? What if they wouldn't be able to find her then? The anxiety krept up inside him, causing his hands to shake uncontrollably. Trying to hide this from Emma he hugged a pillow to his chest. He would be strong for her. 

"Dad, I'm fine. You don't need to worry that much. Besides, before I can go on patrol again I need to train. Those guys didn't exactly give much space…" She sat down next to Tony. He did the one thing she didn't want anyone to do. He babied her. Of course she had been kidnapped and beaten but she had experienced worse in some fights. She wasn't weak. No one needed to protect her, she was capable of doing so herself just fine. 

Before Tony could snark back, Bruce nearly stormed into the lab. "Great, you're here too, Tony." In his hands was his StarkPad. Excitedly he projected his tablet's screen onto Emma's desk. "Earlier you said that you couldn't be a mutant since your DNA changed a bit. I ran some more tests and the results were a hundred percent clear."

Tony looked at him a bit confused. Bruce had sent him the results at the first tests but they seemed fine, except for the body temperature. "Changed DNA sequence? Are you talking about the gain of powers?" He leaned forward waiting for Bruce to elaborate. 

"Yes. More specifically about inhuman powers. But -"

Before he could finish Emma jumped up from the couch. Quickly she pushed Bruce' screen aside and zoomed in on her notes. They were surprisingly organised due to the fact that not even Shield had any decent articles about the topic. 

"I thought you'd never notice. Seems like those idiots gave me powers just to take them. Before they could, l escaped thanks to the storm." She didn't explain anything else before going out of the room. She didn't know much more than what's in her notes and she didn't really wanna talk about it. Not only did she get captured but those guys literally forced her to gain powers after weakening her so she wouldn't be able to get away, not even with powers. At least she knew what that stone did to her. 

Before going to her room she grabbed something to drink. As she sat down at her desk she noticed her phone. Right, she had left it when she had rushed to the fire in Queens. Curiously she turned it on, waiting a second for the system to reboot.

A picture of Tony, Pepper, May, Peter and her lit up before the screen was flooded with notifications. Most of the messages were from Ned and Sophie. They had been asking where she was or why she wasn't responding. She quickly texted them, apologising for being offline for so long. They didn't respond, probably because they were in school right now together with Peter. 

Her gaze landed on her StarkPad after she had scrolled through the news. Some people were putting up a memorial for Blue Moon. She had only rolled her eyes at that. Why would anyone put up a memorial for a hero that's too weak to even protect themself?

Sophie had sent her all the notes for school. Emma had missed quite a lot. But she was already starting to try and catch up. She decided to move subject by subject, starting with the ones she struggled with the most. After organising Sophie's notes she started to work through the first subject.

Concentrating on the notes in front of her, Emma didn't notice Vision phasing through the door. It was already getting dark outside but Emma didn't mind. "Dinner's ready." Emma jumped up from her chair, letting her tablet fall onto her desk.

"Vision! Doors!"

She sat on the floor, panting before getting up. Vision was already on his way back to the kitchen while actually using the door slowed the teen down. 

The kitchen was filled with heroes sitting around the big table. Emma sat down at her usual seat. Excitedly she looked at the food. "So inhuman powers…" Loki sat down next to her, Thor right beside him. He was the god of mischief after all. "Yep. But we don't know what powers yet. Only that fust healing is a side effect of it." Tony answered for her before starting to eat. For the rest of the evening no one brought the topic up again. Right after dinner Emma went back to her room though. 

While she was trying to solve a math problem Tony stuck his head into her room. 

"Whatcha' got there?" He came closer sitting down on the couch. 

"School stuff. How come the teachers take forever to finish a topic when you're there but once you're absent they rush through everything?!" 

A chuckle escaped Tony as he watched his daughter. "You know you don't have to rush to get back...take all the time you need…" 

Emma turned back to her desk, rolling her eyes. Of course everyone said that. Everyone saw just how weak she was, but she couldn't just sit there and do nothing. She had to get strong again. "I know. But I already told Sophie I'd be back on monday." It wasn't a total lie. She did tell Sophie she'd be back soon. 

"Okay...just... don't stress yourself too much…"

For the next three days Emma caught up on all her school work and spent the rest of her time awake in the gym. 

At night she didn't sleep well. Memories and nightmares woke her up at least once every night. Usually she would scroll through her phone or listen to some music until she fell asleep once again.

Her wounds and bruises were healed by sunday afternoon. 

Monday morning Friday woke up the sleepy teen. Yawning and stretching Emma walked to her bathroom to get ready for school. She packed her bag and got dher breakfast before going down to the garage. Happy drove her to school like he had the past two years.

"Emma!" Peter, Ned and Sophie all spotted the girl getting out of the car at once. Sprinting towards her Sophie nearly tackled down some other students. After Sophie and Ned were done hugging her, the group got into the building. It seemed like Sophie had finally become a part of the 'nerd-squad' as MJ liked to call their little group.

"I really like what you did with your hair, by the way. Matches your eyes." 

Emma hadn't really listened to the group, she had been too distracted by all the Blue Moon memorial posters and stuff. "

Yep, looks good." MJ had joined the group somewhere along the way. 

"I didn't do anything with it… but thanks, I guess…"  _ What?! _


End file.
